By Piper Sartison
Elm Staff Writer
Director of Public Safety Brandon McFayden is departing Washington College on May 28, 2021, according to an April 8 email from Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Sarah Feyerherm.
“I will miss my staff who I have grown very fond of. But it does feel like this is the right time for me to make this career change. I’m grateful for my time spent at WC and the people who put their faith in me when I was selected as the director,” McFayden said.
Originally joining WC as a patrol officer, McFayden previously served in the Anne Arundel County Police Department for 24 years.
After a year as a patrol officer, McFayden was promoted to the director of Public Safety position, where he “led his team with a steady hand, solidifying improvements in training, supervision, surveillance equipment, and other initiatives that have made our campus a safer one,” according to the April 8 email.
McFayden filled the director position for three years before deciding to depart the College due to a desire to spend more time with his family as opposed to in the office. He is currently exploring future career options.
“He is a really exceptional professional and leader; we were really grateful to have him,” Dr. Feyerherm said. “He is ready to retire from law enforcement completely now.”
According to Dr. Feyerherm, they are creating a search committee of faculty members, staff members, and students to find a replacement for McFayden.
The April 8 email said they hope to find a director who is “able to provide strong leadership, build relationships on campus with students, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community, as well as navigate the difficult work of making WC a safe place where students and employees can thrive.”
Dr. Feyerherm, who is leading the search to find a new director of Public Safety, said she hopes to form a search committee of people who have general experiences with public safety on college campuses.
Once the search committee positions are filled, they will undertake the task of finding a qualified candidate for the position, a task she said may be done by June, “if everything goes well, and [we] get really good candidates.”
However, Dr. Feyerherm hopes the replacement will be settled before students return to campus at the end of August.
“This is a really important position. We don’t see Public Safety as just an enforcement staff. They are the key people to really [building] community. They are our only professional staff who are literally on campus 24/7. We want someone who really understands what it means to do that kind of work on a college campus,” Dr. Feyerherm said.
“I have worked with and gotten to know some amazing people who work at WC. I’ve also had the pleasure of getting to know some of our terrific students during that time. I will certainly miss my co-workers and the students,” McFayden said.